Donation Clears Student Meal Debt In Fulton County

ATLANTA, GA -- The Fulton County School system will receive a one-time donation from a company that will clear its unpaid school meal debt accumulated during the 2016-17 school year. Land O'Lakes Inc. is making the donation to the system, which garnered about $5,000 in debt last school year due to students charging meals when they lost or forgot their breakfast or lunch money, or simply did not have enough money to eat.

“As a national, farmer-owned cooperative, we’re committed to alleviating hunger and supporting education across the United States,” said Land O’Lakes Foundation Executive Director Lydia Botham. “After working with K-12 food service directors this July, we’re proud to give students a fresh start to their school year.”

While this is a one-time donation, Fulton households are still responsible for ensuring their student has money to pay for meals during the 2017-2018 school year. All elementary student meal charges accumulated on or after Aug. 7, which was the start of the current school year, are the responsibility of the household to pay as part of the district’s policy for student fines, fees and charges (SIGN UP: Get Patch's Daily Newsletter and Real Time News Alerts. Or, if you have an iPhone, download the free Patch app).

The meal charge policy is required by the U.S. Department of Agriculture as part of recently issued regulations of the National School Lunch Program. Elementary students who do not have money for their meal are allowed to charge for the day and are given an alternate menu item, such as a sandwich and milk as a drink.

Households are expected to repay the charge, and families needing financial assistance may qualify for free or reduced price school meal benefits through the National School Lunch Program, which has applications available in each school cafeteria and online.

“Fulton County Schools is grateful to Land O’Lakes for their partnership and concern for students’ well-being,” said Alyssia Wright, executive director of the school system’s School Nutrition Program. “This is a great example of how collaboration with a community partner fosters the district’s work towards supporting every student.”

Fulton County School Nutrition Program meals are kid-friendly and nutritionally sound at an incredibly wallet-friendly price. Prices cover food and operational expenses to prepare the food. For more information about schools meals, menus and meal payments visit www.fcsnutrition.com.

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